There weren't a whole lot of positives from this game, but I did like the moves that I saw from Gillislee and I thought that Matt Moore did a lot to show us that we have a pretty competent back up if Tanny has to miss any time.

Defensive end Derrick Shelby, who started Sunday night's game, reminded the Dolphins coaches they shouldn't forget about him with a two sack performance against the Cowboys. Dion Jordan is the sexy first round, and Olivier Vernon is the young promising 2012 draft pick who has raised his game enough to become a starter. But Shelby, an undrafted former Utah standout who made the team last year with strong exhibition game performances, showed he's worthy of making the 53-man roster again. Shelby's fighting for a roster spot on a unit that can easily be considered one of the NFL's best, and deepest.

Shelby is a worker, i like him as a depth LB. One of sacks maybe could be half credited to Jordan.

I think I saw Wheeler and Misi get sucked in and over pursue once or twice. In fact, there were several missed tackles tonight. Have to wonder how much the "forcing turnovers" style will effect our D.

Grimes didn't show much

Dallas Thomas was getting worked

I only noticed Jonathan Martin a couple times. I guess thats a good thing.

Egnew didn't flop, we'll take that for the moment.

Is Keenan Davis a house built of twigs? He got knocked down every time haha

Does McNutt move a bit like T.O. to anyone else? If he were thrown accurate passes tonight he would've had a good game.

I think Gillislee is a gamer.

Gray showed some strong running but he appears stiff to me, like his hips don't allow him to be missed by tacklers. Could be a nice compliment to Lamar tho. & showed more promise then DT, all things considered.

Hopefully Lamar's fumble was a fluke cuz he rolled out the teaser after that!

I think the most impressive display tonight was our first string run blocking. Those holes were massive!

Its a start of sorts. If this O-line doesn't gel in pass pro after the 4th preseason game then its up to the coaches to figure out how to adjust the offensive scheme so Tanny doesn't have to hold the ball. Overall I consider the game a failure just because we didn't execute very well what Philbin said on MD.com, would be our focus -

Quote:

“Play speed is really the thing that we’ve been talking to our guys about. This game is not really going to be about X’s and O’s, although we have a good sound plan in, I’m sure our opponent has a good sound plan as well, but its more going to be about our guys playing football the right way. The things that we’ve been practicing every single day have to show up on tape. We tell the team all the time, if we devote “x” amount of time to ball security, or to takeaways, or to block protection, we want to see that stuff on the film, in the games.”

Moore looked good. He hung in the pocket and delivered some strikes. The pick 6 was on a typical Dolphin tipped pass that hit the receiver in the hands. Tannehill did not see much action and his accuracy was not impressive. Then again, someone was charging at his blind side more often than not....

Once Miller learned to hold the ball on a handoff, he looked good. Daniel Thomas is slow. So is Jonas Gray, but Gray did show he can catch the ball. Gray also did not seem to have any elusiveness. Gillislee made some nice cuts, finished his runs off and had a good burst.

Egnew had a decent night....a positive. I thought Keenan Davis showed good hands, used his body to screen off the defender on the slant and he showed no fear in traffic. Bumphis came to play.....

The defense could not stop the Cowboys running game. Mistackles a plenty!

The left tackle position was shaky.

Dion Jordan was impressive in limited action. Nice speed. High energy. He looked very good on the edge rush.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

Aside from that there wasn't much to write home about. Thought it was silly to put Matt Moore back in towards the end of the game... his first drive back he didn't do crap. 4 and 3 and he throws a dump off pass to a blanketed RB? C'mon man... he had time on that play too.

I like the fact that they wanted to go for the win though. The coaching staff is clearly trying to instill a winning attitude... whether it be exhibition or not.

Jonas Gray may have looked stiff... but his 7 for 41 was a much better stat line than Gillislee's 7 for 21... even if 29 of it came on 1 play. Gray also had 4 catches for 35 yards... a 76 yard night for that man.

Egnew showed up too... he didn't break any tackles but he stood tough in there and took some hits. Good enough for a 4 for 52 stat line.

I had honestly not heard of Brian Tyms or Keenan Davis before this game... clearly the coaching staff wanted to see more out of them though as Tyms was in nearly the entire 1st half... Davis the entire 2nd.

Thomas better pick up his game...a lot of young guys in the wings doing just as well.Egnew looks like a man-child. Big kid, but needs more energy.Moore showed why he is still the main backupMiller looked good...outside of the fumble.RT..... finally settled down, completed two passes and they pulled him

Overall, a quiet, sloppy game for the Dolphins. They have only been practicing for two weeks though, so no excuses, but I wasn't expecting much either. A few of the wide receivers that were in and out of the game seem to have some nice size (Bumphis & McNutt). Davis was running that slant quite nicely and darn well should have had two of those for touchdowns.

If McNutterfingers catches the ball, I can see potential in that kid. Egnew aka "Sloth" from the Goonies had a respectable game. Jonas Gray was fairly productive, but I agree he seemed to be stiff out there. I also agree that Thomas will be looking over his shoulder for sure fending off the others for back up or change of pace time from Miller.

One thing I've witnessed over the last several years is that space seems to shrink when Miami's offense is on the field.

Hate to say it but I still get nervous with Tannehill. Almost has that Henne-ish rushing of throws (sorry for that) and it leads to inaccurate passes. He did however put Gibson in position for a big gain if he wasn't tripped up.

How can you criticize McNutt for those incomplete passes? Tannehill was terrible.

One pass hit McNutt in both hands, so much so that it appeared at first to be a fumble.

Two hands on the ball should equal a catch.

There are two sides to every story. I agree that McNutt should have had that pass. Maybe the second was a bad route and RT put the ball where it was supposed to be (I doubt it though).

I am getting worried about these stories I read about Tannehill not consistently putting the ball where the receiver can make a play. It looked that way last night on those two passes. But then he comes out and sets up Gibson for a potential big play.

How can you criticize McNutt for those incomplete passes? Tannehill was terrible.

One pass hit McNutt in both hands, so much so that it appeared at first to be a fumble.

Two hands on the ball should equal a catch.

There are two sides to every story. I agree that McNutt should have had that pass. Maybe the second was a bad route and RT put the ball where it was supposed to be (I doubt it though).

I am getting worried about these stories I read about Tannehill not consistently putting the ball where the receiver can make a play. It looked that way last night on those two passes. But then he comes out and sets up Gibson for a potential big play.

Going off of the assumptions that the starters will play more than a series or two, and, that Jacksonville is still terrible...

Miami needs to put a whooping on them in the first quarter. You beat the teams you're supposed to beat. I don't want the starters to falter and then come out against the backups to score a TD. That is the stuff we've become accustomed to seeing.

I don't care if Wallace and Hartline sit. If Tannehill is going to improve he has to make lesser guys play better.